Lisbon Treaty ratification: Loose ends and cannons

The EU treaty reform process, which (re)started in December 2000 in Nice, and the ratification marathons expose the brittle structure of the European Union, still mired in the world of international treaties.

The Lisbon Treaty incrementally improves the functioning and the democratic legitimacy of the European Union, to the extent that the governments of 27 member states have been able to agree unanimously.

To date 26 national parliaments have approved the amending Lisbon Treaty, but there are still some loose ends and some loose cannons around at this critical juncture, when a new Commission should be able to take over from 1 November 2009.

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Ireland

The Irish government has secured a “better deal”, which guarantees a Commissioner from every member state and clarifies a number of sensitive issues. This is the new basis for the second Lisbon Treaty referendum, which takes place on 2 October 2009.

If the Irish vote Yes, the democratic legitimacy of the Lisbon Treaty is secured in the only remaining member state, and the Swedish Council Presidency has no more excuses for keeping the lid on open preparation for the implementation of the Lisbon Treaty.

If the No vote wins, the immediate consequence is that the European Union reverts to the Treaty of Nice, with a smaller Commission, but long term the debate about a smaller and more effective EU gains momentum, given the inherent weaknesses of the existing EU structures.

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Germany

After the judgment of the German Federal Constitutional Court, the Bundestag (directly elected German Parliament) and the Bundesrat (chamber of the Länder) have adopted new accompanying legislation, which has cleared the way for the Federal President Horst Köhler to formally ratify the Treaty of Lisbon.

President Köhler will probably sign the German ratification instrument without delay, which will tie up one loose end.

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Poland

The Polish Parliament has approved the Treaty of Lisbon, but the Polish President Lech Kaczynski is situated somewhere between a loose end and a loose cannon.

He supervised the treaty negotiations, led by his twin brother Jaroslaw Kaczynski (Prime Minister still in November 2007), but he has been politicking by refusing to sign the ratification instrument.

President Kaczynski has made his signature dependent on the ruling of the German Federal Constitutional Court (cleared) and the Irish referendum, so if the outcome in Ireland on 2 October 2009 is positive, he will have run out of excuses for procrastination.

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Czech Republic

President Vaclav Klaus’ vitriolic opposition to European integration is well known, and he has a certain following in his former party, the Civic Democrats (ODS).

The Czech Constitutional Court ruled that the Lisbon Treaty was compatible with the Constitution, before both chambers of the Czech Parliament approved the treaty after an unedifying process of parliamentary manoeuvring.

Defeated Czech parliamentarians have now decided to launch a new legal challenge, in order to offer President Klaus an excuse to withhold his signature and to keep the European Union in limbo, despite the need for a new Commission and clarity concerning the implementation measures.

We do not know when the new Commission will be appointed, or under which treaty, but if the Czech Republic is the cause of the problem, the rest of the European Union needs to act firmly. The Council, the nominee for Commission President and the European Parliament can start by awarding the Commissioner for multilingualism to the Czech Republic (if it gets a Commissioner under the rules in force at the time).

Because the other member states cannot solve the Czech constitutional mess, the Czech Republic should be treated in accordance with the harm it causes the European Union.

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Åland Islands

Finland has formally ratified the Lisbon Treaty, but its autonomous province Åland keeps playing for further concessions from the Finnish government. The Legal Committee of the Åland Parliament (Ålands lagting) has still not produced a report on the approval of the Lisbon Treaty, regarding its application in the province.

As long as the Lisbon Treaty has not entered into force, the Åland politicians can continue their quest, but if the last deposition instrument is deposited in Rome, time will run short for a definitive answer. (The Lisbon Treaty enters into force on the first day of the month following the deposit of the instrument of ratification by the last signatory State to take this step).

If the Lisbon Treaty supersedes the Nice Treaty, without being applicable in the Åland Islands, the legal situation becomes interesting. Finland would have to notify the restricted geographical application, but for Åland it would mean having no legal relationship with the European Union. Åland would become a “Greenland” by default, less than a third country, because it is not a state in its own right.


Ralf Grahn

Lisbon Treaty: Åland Islands

Fourteen months have now passed since the Åland Parliament registered the request from the President of Finland, Tarja Halonen, to approve the European Union’s Treaty of Lisbon (on 21 April 2008).

The matter is still lingering in the Legal Committee of the Åland Parliament, which has failed to issue a report for the plenary. (Earlier posts have dealt with the background.)

National parliaments in 26 EU member states have approved the reform treaty. Finland has completed its ratification procedure, but the Åland Islands have not resolved if they want the Lisbon Treaty to apply, if it becomes the primary law of the European Union.

A positive vote requires a two thirds majority in the regional parliament, if the matter advances that far.


Ralf Grahn

Åland Islands: Lisbon Treaty & ratification update

Not much of an update, actually, but to keep the editors of Wikipedia and other observers informed.

This blog post can only state that 13 months have now passed since the Åland Parliament registered the request from the President of Finland, Tarja Halonen, to approve the European Union’s Treaty of Lisbon (on 21 April 2008).

The matter is still lingering in the Legal Committee, which has failed to issue a report for the plenary. (Earlier posts have dealt with the background.)

National parliaments in 26 EU member states have approved the reform treaty. Finland has completed its ratification procedure, but the unresolved issue is if the Lisbon Treaty will be applicable in the Åland Islands. A positive vote requires a two thirds majority in the regional parliament.


Ralf Grahn


P.S. The loose ends with regard to the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty are:

• In the Czech Republic, President Vaclav Klaus seems bent upon doing all he can to disrupt or delay the procedure, despite ratifications in nearly all member states and the amending treaty now approved by two chambers of the national parliament. The latest excuse is a planned new complaint to the Constitutional Court, which has already ruled on the constitutionality of the Lisbon Treaty.

• In Poland President Lech Kaczynski has withheld his signature from the Lisbon Treaty approved by both houses of parliament.

• In Germany the Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht) is expected to ponder the constitutionality of the Lisbon Treaty until after the European elections.

• Ireland has been given political assurances about maintaining the oversized Commission and assurances concerning sensitive areas (abortion, tax, neutrality) if the Lisbon Treaty is approved in the second referendum, probably in October. The final wording of these guarantees is expected at the European Council 18 to 19 June 2009.

EU Lisbon Treaty ratifications for purists

The media and this blog have usually concentrated on the parliamentary ratification stage of the EU Treaty of Lisbon. This is natural, because we live in parliamentary democracies. Approval by parliament is seen as politically decisive, which it normally is. Currently 24 member states’ parliaments out of a total of 27 have already given their approval.

One country, Ireland, has rejected the Lisbon Treaty in a referendum, and in two member states, the Czech Republic and Sweden, the parliamentary process has hardly begun.

This blog has employed expressions like parliamentary approval or ratification, the parliamentary ratification stage and other words to that effect to remind readers of the difference between the main political decision and final ratification.

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As with other international treaties, the Lisbon Treaty needs the additional signature of the president or royal assent in most member states to comply with their internal procedures (constitutional requirements). In parliamentary democracies functioning normally, this stage is ordinarily a formality.

There may, however, exist ‘benign’ reasons for delaying the signature.

Administrative delays are normal. In principle, there is no hurry before the end of 2008.

In Germany the president awaits the outcome of the judicial challenges filed with the Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht).

In Finland – although I have seen no official confirmation of the reasons – the president may be waiting (within a three month time limit) for the autonomous Åland Islands to approve or reject the Lisbon Treaty concerning their own territory.

The vagaries of politics being what they are, other reasons may enter into play. For instance, seen from the outside the Polish president Lech Kaczynski seems to be engaged in populist politicking and a power struggle with Poland’s government and parliament. Perhaps one of the Polish readers of this blog could present an expert comment on the constitutional matters and the political questions involved.

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Externally, states finalize their approval by notification of their intent to be bound by a treaty. According to Article 54 of the consolidated Lisbon Treaty version of the Treaty on European Union provides that ‘The instruments of ratification shall be deposited with the Government of the Italian Republic’.

The EU Council web site tells us that thirteen ratifications have been deposited:

http://www.consilium.europa.eu/cms3_Applications/applications/Accords/details.asp?cmsid=297&id=2007133&lang=EN&doclang=EN

The group of finalized ratifications includes the following member states: Austria, Bulgaria, Denmark, France, the United Kingdom, Hungary, Luxembourg, Latvia, Malta, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia.

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Eleven member states have parliamentary approval, but their ratification instruments have still to be deposited. They are: Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland and Spain,


Source: Wikipeadia: Treaty of Lisbon (8 August 2008)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Lisbon

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By the way, there is a misconception in the Wikipedia article about the Åland Islands (Finland). Currently there is no Åland Islands MEP.

With a population of 28,000 Åland has lobbied for a member of the European Parliament since the beginning of Finnish EU membership, but the chances to succeed are slim, given almost 408,000 inhabitants for each of the 13 future Finnish mandates (presently 14).

Åland has a guaranteed member in the Finnish parliament, which is close to proportional representation given the size of the Finnish population (5.3 million) and 200 MPs.

If the regional parliament of the Åland Islands rejects the Lisbon Treaty, the legal situation would become unclear, leaving part of Finland’s territory outside the geographical scope of the amending treaty and the relations between Åland and the EU to be determined.

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The UK territory Gibraltar (28,750) has about the same population size as Åland, but I could find no information on its government’s London web site about the approval of the Lisbon Treaty:

http://www.gibraltar.gov.uk/int/index.asp

Another 8 km2 to watch, for purists.


Ralf Grahn

Åland Islands debate EU Lisbon Treaty

Fellow blogger EU Law asked me what the local Åland Islands parliament is doing with the Treaty of Lisbon today. I thought it would be better to try to answer in a separate post, not in the comments section of an unrelated blog post.

Due to time constraints this note is going to be rushed. Here are the essentials:

The regional parliament (lagtinget) debates the Treaty of Lisbon, remitted by the President of the Republic of Finland with regard to possible approval as regards Åland, with a view to sending it to committee. The local government (landskapsregeringen) has prepared a 22 page paper (meddelande, “Mitteilung”) where it stresses the importance of added influence for the Åland Islands in Finnish EU affairs.

The debate started at 13 o’clock local time and is ongoing. At least one delegate of the more separatist kind has proposed a moratorium on dealing with the proposal from the President until 15 September 2008, instead of remitting it to the committee. So, immediate or delayed remittal to committee will probably be voted upon later today.

Links for those who read Swedish are found at Ålands lagting:

http://www.lagtinget.aland.fi/


Ralf Grahn